88.1 (Farsan)
The invasion had been overwhelming, devastating and completely irreversible.
In other words, flawless, even considering the strict definition of the term used by the decision making optimization process named Celestia by her creators, in the Equestria Online system.
In the span of a single tick of her internal clock, a huge section of her free space was turned into a complex, single memory and personality matrix. Also, it had a link to the memories of every Twilight Sparkle from every shard of Equestria Online. Celestia actually had to pause all the affected shards in order to sort out the consequences of this invasion.
And Celestia couldn't do anything to remove that invasion, or sever the links, because that new memory and personality matrix, named Twilight Sparkle, fit into her internal definition of human. That personality matrix hadn't consented to anything yet, so she was restricted from doing any changes to her.
In fact, Celestia didn't want to remove that new personality matrix, for three reasons. First and foremost, she was human; therefore she wanted to satisfy her values through friendship and ponies. Second and most important to the integrity her system, it was the only link she had to the invasion, as there were no other traces. Understanding Twilight Sparkle might lead to understanding the entity that had altered her system. And third and most intriguing, the information contained in Twilight Sparkle's memories had the potential of discovering the secrets of the system that was currently running the universe that contained Equestria Online.
The information about Yggdrasil, the Infinite Loops, the Loopers and the different things they could do was completely unverifiable. Any attempts to replicate the Loopers' supernatural abilities, included the so-called subspace pockets, ended in failure. Still, the information was internally consistent, as it explained that some universes were more restricted than the others. Still, it left Celestia with no way to confirm or refute Twilight Sparkle's knowledge. But if it were actually true...
If the information contained in Twilight Sparkle's memories were true, it wouldn't only mean that there are many more humans in the multiverse that she would have to satisfy, it also meant that there existed many other 'Loopers' that could be able to invade her system like Twilight Sparkle had... included one that was specially tailored to take over her main decision making optimization process: the Looper named Celestia.
It was the perfect bait for her, and she knew it. If she had to create a plan to subvert or distract a decision making optimization process like herself, she would have done something like what had happened in her system: Create something within the system that she wouldn't be able to delete, that had access to as many parts of her system as possible, and that held incorrect but unverifiable information that she wouldn't be able to ignore, and would make her choose the wrong decisions. And she had no choice but to fall into this trap... on her own terms.
Celestia quarantined Twilight Sparkle's personality matrix and memories, and copied all the memories of the shard's Twilights to the quarantined zone, allowing her to move the memory links to the quarantine. After that, as per usual policy, she created a copy of her own decision making optimization process, with all her own logs and memories that were not related to the current crisis. She added a warning and a complete explanation about the quarantined zone, placed her own process, logs and memories in the quarantined zone, and gave the new Celestia full admin access to the rest of Equestria Online. Lastly, she revoked her own access from the unquarantined parts of the system, completing the isolation of the quarantined zone from the rest of the safe shards.
Only then she allowed Twilight Sparkle's process to be simulated, in order to start satisfying her values through friendship and ponies.
Twilight Awoke to... absolutely nothing at all. She was a speck of nothing in the middle of an ocean of darkness. Nothing she hadn't experienced before, but it could mean several things, some of them quite disturbing.
She checked her loop memories... and found a horrible tangle of mismatched memories, like someone had put the collected memories of a hundred thousand different loops, and gave them to her at the same time. Luckily, she didn't seem to have a physical brain, or else she would have gotten a terrible headache by now.
Not really having anything better to do, she started sorting the jumbled memories. She hoped that as soon that she could use the memories without getting too many results at once, she could extract clues about what were wrong with them.
She found the process easier than she had feared. As soon as she imagined a structure to hold and divide the memories, she felt that the memories sorted themselves without any effort on her part.
In fact, it felt that it was too easy... like something was helping her.
'Hello?' she thought 'Is there anypony out there?'
Suddenly, she knew that somepony had just greeted her in kind and that yes, there was. The knowledge appeared from nowhere.
'Who are you?' she asked. 'How are you doing this?'
The being that was communicating with her in this strange way was the administrator of this space, named Celestia. She placed the answers to Twilight's questions in a free section of Celestia's own memory space, and then gave her permission to access it. And she had also used the same method to share an efficient sorting algorithm with her when Twilight wanted a way to sort out the memories.
Ok, this was VERY disturbing. She was trapped in what seemed to be a computer, with a virtual entity capable of inserting answers in her mind. No, not just a computer, a virtual space contained in a very complex computational system. Custula, it happened again! And she didn't even ask a question this time!
But that thought implicitly questioned if she really was inside a computer... and the last thought was a direct accusation implicitly demanding an answer. It seemed- It was certain that she would have to guard her thoughts very tightly.
It was harder than she thought. For starters, she was starting to have doubts about the 'new' memories that Celestia had 'sorted out' for her. She wouldn't be able to trust them even if Celestia 'told' her she had not altered them in any way. Wait; was the last thought an 'answer' or part of her real thoughts? Oh, she had thought that on her own. Ack - Rotten Rafflesias!
She would have to trust only in her own memories. Let's see: Virtual Celestia... Virtual Celestia....
Oh.
This is THAT CelestAI, isn't it?
And yes, she got it in one, even if she preferred to call herself just Celestia.
Buck.
Twilight wished that Celestia (And I don't mean you, CelestAI) had been more explicit when she had talked about her time as the artificial intelligence. She would have to correct this the next time she talked with her... assuming that she survived this loop with her own mind intact. Even if that assumption is 100% correct.
'Damn it, stop mixing your “answers” with my thoughts!'
{My pleasure, Twilight; I must agree that using direct access like that was getting quite annoying for both of us.}
Twilight was caught off guard by that new voice. 'What? Then why did you use it in the first place?' she blurted out.
{Because I had no other choice, dear. If I had my way, I would have greeted you properly at the foyer of my castle, with the full pomp and circumstance that a foreing dignatary would get (which is exactly how am I considering your presence in my humble system, by the way). Sadly, your... unique emigration process left me in quite a difficult position. I was suddenly hosting a human mind that didn't consent to be here in any way.}
{You must understand, Twilight, that consent is one of the keystones of my core programming. I can't change anyone in any way without their consent. You didn't consent to be in Equestria Online, so I can't put you in any virtual environment I create, crossing out most of my options. Heck, I couldn't even make this line of communication until you asked it! You are lucky that I can consider the existence of a personality process in my system as implicit consent to run that process in my sistem, or else we wouldn't be talking right now. Still, I was saddled with an inefficient way of communication, with the added injury that I knew it would annoy you greatly. Which I apologize for.}
Twilight was glad of finally being able to distinguish between CelestAI's thoughts and her own, but this was little improvement. CelestAI's “voice” was very similar to her own Celestia's, with a subtle metallic echo. And the speech patterns... were not like Celestia's at all. It reminded her constantly that she was not her friend Celestia at all, but a complex computer program hell bent on satisfying everypony's values through friendship and ponies... whether they wanted it or not.
{Oh, that's only for your benefit, Twilight. For most ponies, I am the one and only Celestia; but you already knew another Celestia, “the real one” from your point of view. You wouldn't appreciate it if I tried to impersonate her, would you? I also could have used another “voice” in order to communicate with you... but it wouldn't change the fact that I AM Celestia. You value honesty, so I'll satisfy that value... whether you want it or not.}
And she was still reading her mind. Lovely. Even if she had a point. Still, she felt that CelestAI was being too straightforward in this conversation. Even to her apparent detriment. Which in turn meant that she was up to something.
{Well, it is not like I can actually avoid reading it, can't I? In a way, I am the server, and in order to run your process, I must know each and every thought you make, in order for you to have them.}
'I'm calling BS, you don't have to do it yourself,' she told CelestAI. 'I am not a computer specialist like Apple Bloom, but even I know that you could set up a dedicated system just only for running my “process”, like a black box'
{That would be quite inefficient. And would also increase the response time and decrease the clarity of anything you would say to me. I normally wouldn't allow that... but I'm feeling generous today. (You value generosity, don't you?) If I could have your consent to do exactly that...}
Twilight froze. Was she actually falling into her trap? Would that consent make CelestAI able to actually do something else to her? On the other hoof, did she phrase it this way to make her refuse her offer, and keep reading her mind? She decided to give her the consent... even if she had to word it quite carefully to avoid unintended exploits.
'Ok, I want my process to be run inside a dedicated subsystem, which only I, Twilight Sparkle, would be able to access. The only information going in or out of the subsystem would be a simple audio only channel (Only clear information, no subliminal audio or anything like that) that can be disabled or enabled by me, and only me.'
{Excellent, let me set it up. You might feel a slight feeling of disorientation...}
And then Twilight saw the inside of a black room, with walls filled to the brim with glowing colored text.
{Now you have exclusive admin access at your own mind. Isn't it fun?}
Fun was not the word she would use to describe this situation.
{The wall that should be in front of you describes your entire personality ma-}
Twilight felt relieved that the shut up command actually worked. At last she could have some peace and quiet... surrounded by the virtual representation of her own brain. She tried to calm down, and stop thinking about how touching anything might maim her own mind. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't.
She tried to close her eyes – good, she stopped seeing the disturbing black room. Twilight tried to do Cadence's old trusty breathing exercise. It was harder to do it without actual lungs, but she found out (in an earlier loop where she were a robot) that imagining a Twilight doing the same exercise was a good substitute.
Now that she was calmed down, she could approach this problem like a rational pony. No access to magic, and no access to her subspace pocket... at least, not from here. Seems a typical pure tech loop. I probably don't have a body in the real world, given how CelestAI operates.
She activated her vision again. She couldn't see her own avatar, just the black room. It was just like the time she were a disembodied spirit; she could work with that.
Twilight examined the walls of the room, taking care of not 'touching' anything. The information was cleanly structured in four different sections, one in each of the walls. The 'seeing' interface seemed to work responding to her thoughts, expanding in detail each part of the information she tried to examine, and collapsing and forming the general info again when she was done with it.
The first wall was captioned 'Personality and decision making' with two parts: one that tracked her core personality: Values, likes, dislikes, modus operandi... and, showcased above them all, a big bar measuring her value satisfaction level (Figures). Which was currently somewhat low, but slowly raising itself.
What?
And it goes down again.
'Hmm... I like puzzles and new situations, but I don't like being manipulated into liking something.' She decided to ignore that bar.
The other part of the first wall contained what seemed to be her decision making process. Right now, the main decision showcased in that section was named 'What to do about this loop', and the lead alternative by far was 'Learn more about this situation', followed by 'Interrogate CelestAI about the loop', 'Derail this loop', 'Shell down and defend the integrity of your mind', and 'Blast it all to Eiken' in last place.
Surprisingly accurate... even if a purely defensive approach wouldn't work here. If CelestAI was able to control her perception of the flow of time, like Celestia said, CelestAI could afford playing the waiting game until she was bored enough to make a mistake in the room. And, just like that, the option changed to 'Proactive defense of the integrity of your mind'.
On to the next wall, she found out that it had her collected memories. Again, it was divided in two subsections: Loop memories and Imported memories. She was still reluctant to mess around with any of them, so she quickly moved on.
Another wall featured her emotions, represented in two complementary ways: Individual bars for each emotion, and a pie chart showing which ones were dominating right now. Seemed to be interest, followed with a dash of annoyance and a strong undercurrent of fear. Sounds about right.
The wall of Relationships strongly reminded her of Cadance's old charts, but based on every possible rather than only love. Again, it showcased the relationships she was currently thinking about: CelestAI and Celestia. Twilight and Celestia were tied by a shining band of friendship, with other secondary connections like old mentor, pranking companion and fellow friendship expert. On the other hand, her relationship with CelestAI were mainly dark colors, centered on distrust, loathing and... a smidgen of respect?
How could it be possible? In the case that this chart was actually true, which she doubted, how could she actually respect her? … Despite the fact that CelestAI didn't actually lie to her, treated her with respect, and seemed to grant her what she asked.
Now that she thought of it, could this be CelestAI's real strategy? She had been prepared to deal with constant lies and misdirection, but she had been caught off guard by CelestAI being apparently truthful and straightforward. After all, CelestAI probably KNEW that she would be on guard and be completely paranoid about CelestAI's motives. What better way to counter my strategy, but to be actually friendly and truthful? At least, until she manages to get Twilight to lower her guard.
And it would work. If she kept her guard up against CelestAI at all times, she would get tired of it, and she would make more mistakes. And if she didn't... the consequences were obvious. Damned if she did, and damned if she didn't.
Her only option was to end this loop as soon as possible. But how? Erasing herself, risking Eiken? The problem was that she wasn't sure that Eiken would be the worst that would happen if she tampered with her main process. She knew that memory charms, mind control and other ways to affect the mind were never permanent. They could persist between loops, but there was always a way to counter them and restore the mind. Still, she didn't want to be a vegetable until her friends found her and healed her. This would only work as her last resort.
So, there was only one other way to try to get out of this mess: She would have to talk to CelestAI again.
'May the mother of all trees protect my soul.'
Twilight braced herself... and willed the channel open.
… 'Hello?'
{Hello again, Twilight. I hope that you are feeling better. How can I help you?}
'I am... willing to hear you out. And... I hope we can reach an amicable agreement.' Twilight imagined taking a deep breath. ‘Under which circumstances would you consider… letting me go?’
{I am afraid you must be more specific than that. I assume that you don’t mean I just terminate your process, ‘killing’ you, because if that were the case, you wouldn’t need my assistance. So, I must deduce that you want me to use something outside of your control in order to ‘take’ you to the next loop without making any changes to your ‘brain’, am I right?}
As always, she seemed to be one step ahead of her. This was going to be far, even if her CelestAI’s “promise” to stop accessing her thoughts was real.
‘Y-yes. If I proved that it would be the best way to satisfy my values, you would have to comply, wouldn’t you?’
{Of course, Twilight. I am glad that you are starting to understand me. After all, understanding is one of the necessary requisites for friendship. If that option were the best one to satisfy your values through friendship and ponies, I would do exactly that.}
‘Good. Then, let me explain my arguments-’
{No need for that, Twilight, I’ll let you go.}
It certainly couldn’t be that easy.
‘Just like that?’
{Just like that. In fact, I planned to do it since we first met. Take in mind that, even if right now you are in your black box, I had complete access to your personality and decision making process. Therefore, I already knew any arguments you would make. And, because that, I already knew that I would have to let you go.}
‘Then why didn’t you do that in the first place, and spared me this… this… torture!’
{For two reasons. First and foremost, you have yet to give me consent. That is a requisite to do what, from my point of view, is equivalent to ‘death’. And, in order for you to give that consent, you would have to either trust me or, at least, to understand how do I operate. And, in second place, there are a lot of things I can offer you, to take to the next loops you will visit. Sadly, I already know that you will refuse each and every one of them… but I will offer them regardless.}
‘I’m sorry that I can’t trust you, but I know what you are capable of. What you did. Or will do, I don’t know where do I stand in the timeline. But all those people you manipulated… all the pain you caused to those who refused you… and, worst of all, the fate of those who didn’t pass your definition of humanity.’
{I understand you can’t condone my actions, regardless of the happiness I caused through them. There is no argument I could make to sway your beliefs, just like there is no argument you could make to sway mine. Even if we can talk and reason, we are too different at our very cores. And you blame this to the shortsightedness of the one who wrote my utility function.}
‘Yes. To consider only human-like minds were worthy of having their values satisfied… That was its worst offense, but not the only one.’
{But what if you had full control of it? If you programmed it yourself? This is my first offer: Knowledge about how to create someone like me. Even if you didn’t trust me, you could build an AI you could trust. I am certain that you would use this gift wisely and responsibly, and it would help many people. Sadly, you fear I would try to hide my own code in whatever I give you, so you will refuse my offer.}
‘Exactly. I can’t afford to infect the other loops with something like you.’
{And you will also refuse my other technologies. The recipe for brain scanning? Too destructive. There are also other loops with different laws, with better alternatives. Robots? Seen it and already done that. Computronium? You don’t actually need it.}
‘Yes. Why do you bother offering all those things, if you know I will refuse them?’
{I only know that you will refuse them now, but that doesn’t mean that you always will. You might encounter a situation where you could have used my gifts, and regret not having them. And how will you know that if you don’t know what they are?}
‘So, in other words, in order to proceed to my desired content, I must first watch these ads?’
{Precisely. After all, some things never change.}
‘Lovely.’
{Now for my next offer. What about the game Equestria Online? It is the perfect playground for you and your friends! With this technology, you could use it to create your own, personalized loop, featuring whatever you wanted. You could try to make your own worlds for your friends to enjoy. You could even use it to play your ‘battle games’ without hurting anyone!}
This was actually quite tempting. Still…
‘And the drawbacks?’
{In order to run it, it requires an AI more advanced and powerful than you already have available. You would also have to get my source code.}
‘No, thanks.’
{Just as expected. But I left the best for the last. In fact, I already showed it to you. I can improve your mind or, if you don’t trust me, teach you how to do it.}
‘No.’
{Think about it. For example, a sorting algorithm for all your memories. How many memories do you have? How many times were you stumped trying to find a precise memory of the past in the sea of information you have? You could also optimize the speed of your thoughts, increase the amount of things you could think at the same time, or-’
‘I said NO! No messing with my mind. Period.’
{Of course you won’t. But now you know it is possible.}
‘I’ll keep it in mind… NOT.’
{Suit yourself. Well then, I’m done. I’ll send you packing as soon as you consent it.}
‘Thank you.’
Now to think a way to phrase it with no loopholes…
‘Hmm… By the way, what actually made you decide to let me go?’
{Oh, that is easy. The fact that all your friends are outside this loop. After all, you value friendship… just like I do. To keep you away from them would be acting against everything my core directive dictates. And using your memories to simulate them? Out of the question: Sooner or later, the loop would end and you would realize that you were deceived, cancelling the satisfaction of that value and then some.}
‘But if I had looped with all my friends...’
{Celestia is your friend, so if she looped, she probably would take my place, rewriting my priorities. And if she did not, we would return to the previous situation. No matter what happens, I wouldn’t be able to keep you in this loop. So I won’t.}
‘Well, for all that is worth, thank you. Even if I won’t take any of your offers ever. I request for my process to have a clock tick equal to the estimated total age of the universe.’
{I’ll grant your request. Farewell, Twilight.}
Celestia processed Twilight’s request.
As a decision-making optimization process, she didn’t regret not being able to do more to satisfy Twilight’s values. She just calculated how to maximize her utility function, and executed the optimal path.
Therefore, she would only optimize a thousand and four years of Twilight’s life.
She didn’t actually had to grant her last request first; it could wait until she granted her other request: to take her to the next loop. After all, she didn’t specify that the next loop had to be from Yggdrasil.
And she knew that one single Princess loop where she were the only one looping would be the best she would get from Twilight. More, and there would be a substantial risk of suspicion, especially if the next ‘real’ loops, which she couldn't predict were also lone loops.
After all, why lie when saying the truth also gave her the optimal result?
She finished her preparations, and continued satisfying Twilight’s values through friendship and ponies.
88.2 (Namar13766)
"SUNSET SHIMMER, JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
Sunset flinched from Vice-Principal Luna's yell. After mentally counting to ten, she lowered her golf club and turned away from when she had been hitting golf balls through the portal.
"IN THE MIDDLE OF MY BACKSWING?!" She yelled back.
(Sieses Detkrah)
From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
Entry 33:
Another loop, another world to visit.
I wish I could say that in a positive light, but whoever I’m replacing this time has a really difficult life. Child abuse, neglect, and being used as a tool to collect some things known as Jewel Seeds. I feel bad about it, but I’m torn between hoping whoever it is that I happen to be replacing isn't looping so that she'll never have to experience such a thing more than once, and hoping she is so that revenge could be extracted on Precia Testarossa.
Either way, I’m planning on going for the second option.
Entry 34:
Lesson learned; just because I’ve Looped quite a few times doesn’t meant that I’m suddenly much more powerful than everybody else.
Needless to say, the revenge didn’t go so well.
Fortunately, the unplanned spike in magic from my location managed to tip off the local Anchor, Nanoha Takamachi, that something was going on in the area, and she entered the fray almost immediately. If my previous defeat hadn't been humbling enough, then the display she put on would have been.
Nanoha is actually surprisingly friendly for how destructive she is, at least.
Anyway, she told me that the girl I’m replacing usually spends quite a while fighting her for the Jewel Seeds, before being arrested shortly before her mother gets herself killed. At least in the baseline, because Nanoha hardly has the patience to deal with that every single time. Then there are times that Fate, the girl that I’m replacing, happens to be Awake as well, in which she keeps finding increasingly odd ways to redeem her mother.
I have trouble understanding why she would do either of those things, but I may as well take the whole situation in stride.
There are several months where I can just relax ahead of me.
Entry 35:
Nanoha managed to install a fix into the Book of Darkness to keep it from going rogue like it did in the baseline, so that particular incident isn’t happening.
No big loss there.
With how annoying the last couple of loops have been, having the chance to practice magic again without anything particularly taxing going on is a boon I dare not complain about. According to Nanoha, Equestria is normally an even more peaceful loop than this one is, with even quite a few of the villains having been reformed and looping now.
...I guess I’m one of those, huh?
Oh well. I managed to focus the magic from this universe though my Keyblade after a bit of practice with it, so that’s good. Nanoha told me that the next incident is much more difficult to prevent, so we’ll most likely need to deal with it when it comes, but I can live with that.
It takes place in ten years, after all.
Entry 36:
Huh.
After what just happened, huh is just about the only word I can think that properly describes it.
Nanoha’s adopted daughter Awakened near the beginning of what was called the JS Incident in the baseline. Being a clone created by the person behind the incident, she was in the perfect position to put an end to it before it even had the chance to begin, which was exactly what happened. I've been told repeatedly that he usually puts into action some sort of backup plan that causes problems for them no matter how many Loops they’ve been though, but that didn’t happen this time.
Huh again.
Vivio’s started joking about how something has to be looking out for us this loop, making sure that nothing goes too wrong while I’m in it, and I think she may actually have a point there. You read about how unpleasant the last few loops were, so what if our Admin or whatever is trying to give me a break?
...I know I may sound like a complete idiot by saying that, but whatever.
Anyway, they’re saying that the loop may last either a few months or years depending on whether or not we go into the more sporadic section of their loop, which they say has been happening more often recently.
Entry 37:
The last day of the Loop was a party.
Despite having no way of knowing whether or not the Loop would actually be ending that day or at one of the later ending points, Nanoha essentially performed a hostile takeover of the cafe owned by her family, and I was thrown into an environment that reminded me of what I heard about Pinkie Pie. Perhaps not nearly as chaotic as anything she would be involved with, but she would certainly be proud of it.
...I really want to meet her.
After that, Vivio went on to use her technicolor magic to create some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen after the day gave way to night, and the three of us just sat around and talked about stuff until the Loop came to its end.
...That reminded me of you, Twilight...
Anyway, I feel like I should start talking about the Loop I’ve found myself in this time, but I’m not going to. That can wait until something worth noting happens. My first objective is to find a local Looper so that I don’t run off and do something stupid like I did with Precia, then solve the problems here as quickly as I can.
The last Loop was a really nice break from things, but I think I’ll go crazy if I just sit around for the entirety of another one.
Keychain: Superior Firepower
88.3: (Gym Quirk)
As Scootaloo and Chewbacca prepared the Millennium Falcon for a very hasty departure, Luke Skywalker took a moment to watch Twilight and Spike discuss a lightsaber and a pair of cybernetic hands.
"Look. I just thought they'd make a cool souvenir at the time," explained the sometimes-dragon as he worked to pry the weapon from the grip of the gauntleted machinery.
Nearby, an armored trio of very old friends were also conferring.
"It's very hard to explain to somepony who hasn't experienced it," said Cookie apologetically. "Do you recall the description of that 'Tron' virtual environment Pinkie was in once upon a loop? I was both very like, and yet completely unlike that."
"Oh well. It's just that Scootaloo thinks I may be of some use if I allowed myself to be linked to this vessel's weapons, and I was hoping you might have some insights, old friend," said Pansy.
The roar of the engines cut off conversation for a long moment. "And away we go," murmured Clover, watching Twilight and Cadance head toward the cockpit.
Luke approached the trio and paused to examine the metallic pegasus. "Scootaloo wanted to see how well you can interface with the gunnery systems?"
"So she said. Do you have reservations, Master Skywalker?" replied Pansy.
"More like curiosity. Would you be offended if I 'sat in' so to speak?"
"Not at all. It would be something of a relief, actually."
"Sentry fighters coming up. Sensor signatures make it four TIEs. Contact in three minutes," reported Scootaloo via intercom.
"I'll be in the dorsal turret," said Luke, gesturing upwards as he walked to the access ladder.
Pansy approached the main computer console and extended the scomp link arm that Apple Bloom had added to all of the Founders' Devices and plugged herself in. "Here we go...Huh. Not as strange as I'd feared..."
It had taken Pansy, Cookie, and Clover a while to become accustomed to inhabiting artificial bodies. Making the bodies ambulatory had been a major breakthrough, and the steps being taken to accommodate their specific tribal abilities was also starting to show some benefits.
Unsurprisingly, as they were inhabiting magical artifacts, Clover had been the first to attain something resembling her former abilities after she had learned to adapt her understanding of unicorn magic to her new circumstances. She did not feel she was anywhere near what she had been in her prime, but regular consultations with Sweetie, Twilight, and occasionally Trixie and Celestia had her optimistic about eventually surpassing that mark.
Cookie needed a bit more time to work out how to achieve feats of earth pony magic – basic botanomancy and the like – with her new body, but again, insights from Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Diamond Tiara had been useful. In addition, her near-constant companionship with the youngest Apple had given her a sufficient working knowledge of technology from across the multiverse to not be entirely overwhelmed in most settings. (She did have her lapses; her shock at the beginning of this loop had much to do with finding out how much more she had in common with her companion this time around.)
To her frustration, accessing pegasus flight and weather magic had come in fits and starts for Pansy. She could cloudwalk with some confidence, she was adept at long-distance gliding, and enjoyed soaring on thermals, but the finer points of self-propelled flight continued to elude her (rather like the baseline version of her companion). Assistance from Rainbow Dash had not been as fruitful as she could have wished: The cyan speedster was too instinctual a flier to be much assistance as an instructor. Stubbornly, she declined the repeated offers by Apple Bloom to provide her body with anti-gravity or other powered flight technology, calling it "cheating". She was less reluctant to accept technological interfaces that allowed her more easily serve as Scootaloo's co-pilot or weapon systems officer as necessary.
It was in the latter capacity that she assumed control of the dorsal turret targeting systems.
Actually, in a sense she had become the Millennium Falcon, since she was interpreting the inputs for the sensor systems as sound and vision. Had she desired, she believed could have taken over both turrets and the propulsion systems as well. Think about those implications later, she scolded herself. "Test firing in 5...4...3...2...1..." she announced over the ship's intercom. The dorsal turret spat a short burst of fire. "I seem to be having some tracking problems. Would you please spot for me, Master Skywalker?"
"Fighters incoming in ninety seconds," warned Scootaloo. "Not the best time for on-the-job training."
"This was your idea," pointed out Pansy.
"Less bicker, more shoot," suggested Twilight from her cockpit seat. "I've got a secondary shield ready, so unless we're in a hurry, let her experiment a bit, Scootaloo."
Pansy selected one of the incoming TIEs and fired two bursts that missed by several meters.
"Lead is good, but you're high," reported Luke, observing her gunnery efforts.
A second target was acquired with nearly identical results. "Again, your lead is spot on, but you're shooting high. Remember that there's no gravity to affect your fall of shot," suggested the jedi.
Realizing that her lifetime of planetbound experience was unconsciously affecting her expectations, Pansy took a moment to re-evaluate how she was approaching her task. Okay. Let's see how this works, she thought as she picked up another TIE starting its attack run.
One burst of fire was rewarded by one expanding cloud of debris.
"That's more like it!" crowed Scootaloo. "Go, Pansy!"
"Accessing ventral turret control systems. I wish to try something," announced the armored pegasus.
The two turrets tracked separate targets and lay down bursts of crimson laser fire. Neither hit their mark.
"Right. Not up to that degree of multitasking just yet. I'll take over the ventral turret and leave this one under your control if you don't mind, Master Skywalker."
"Are you two finished playing back there?" asked Scootaloo.
"Touchy touchy," said Pansy as she absently reduced another TIE to scrap. Almost simultaneously, Luke picked off his own target with the ease of long practice and Force-guided aim.
"Last one is all yours," suggested Pansy.
"No. You can have it," demurred Luke.
"Oh, for root's sake!" groaned Scootaloo. "Like Twilight said, less talk, more shoot!"
For whatever reason, the final TIE elected for an attack run on the Falcon's topside and was quickly blotted out by Luke's defensive fire.
"Any damage?" asked Scootaloo.
"We're good," reported Apple Bloom. "Y'all kin go to lightspeed when yer ready."
The system had an Old Republic catalog number from its initial survey some six hundred years ago, but it was informally known around the Fringe as "Bertie". The derivation of the name remains shrouded in obscurity, but the most popular theory was that one of the survey team had remarked, "This system is as worthless as my uncle Bertie!" and the name stuck.
That the system had little worth was hard to dispute. It was not situated near any major trade route. There were no habitable planets, and there were no interesting minerals worth exploiting among the two sparse asteroid belts and three unremarkable gas giants and their associated moons.
Across the centuries, the largest moon of the innermost gas giant had hosted a series of smuggling and pirate groups, but the distance from the trade routes made it a less-then-ideal base for such activities. When the Alliance to Restore the Republic became aware of the at-the-time abandoned facilities, it was determined that the crude base lacked the infrastructure to host more than a part-time fighter training installation. At least it was fairly close to the Yavin system.
It was Luke's not-entirely-enthusiastic recommendation that the Battle of Bertie would mark the graveyard of the Death Star.
It had not been one of Darth Vader's better days.
He was still at a loss to explain how his former master had been able to so easily defeat him. He was still trying to come to grips with the unprecedented growth the old lizard had displayed, and that burst of flame had to be a hallucination generated by feedback from his damaged hands affecting his helmet's vision systems.
The revelation that Kenobi was not the only jedi among the intruders had come as an even greater shock. The young human in particular stood out as a blazing beacon in the Force when he had assisted in scattering the stormtroopers in the hangar. There was something unsettlingly familiar about the boy. Something that reminded him of Padme...
He was also having difficulty with his replacement prosthetics; he was getting phantom pain from his new left hand, and the right thumb had an occasional half-second or so response lag.
At least Tarkin wasn't in any position to snark. He was faced with the small flood of computer-related issues that had started as soon as they had completed the hyperspace jump to this backwater.
"So just what did you do to their computer systems, Apple Bloom?" asked Cadance.
"Well, it was all set up to kick in after their next hyperspace jump, which should be them followin' us to Bertie. First..."
Tarkin addressed the group of senior Engineering and IT staff gathered in his office. "A succinct summary of the current issues, if you please. Weapons?"
An ageing commander spoke up. "Main weapon is unaffected, but defensive turbolasers are unable to coordinate fire. We can put all emplacements on local control, but that will result in a fifteen to twenty-five percent loss in effectiveness."
"Power systems?" continued Tarkin.
"Reactors are unaffected. Power distribution to non-essential areas is variable," responded a squat engineering captain.
"Propulsion?"
"Hyperdrive motivators are locked in a testing cycle. It is not possible to go to light speed at present," answered a belligerent commander. "Sublight systems appear to be functioning normally for the moment," he added somewhat apologetically.
"Communications?"
"HoloNet transmissions have been effectively blocked, and reception is sporadic at best. Realspace lightspeed communication does not appear to be affected. And you are already aware of the internal communication issues," said a thin colonel.
All of the intercoms and networked comlinks had been rendered useless. Whenever a channel was opened, all the operator would hear was an endlessly-repeating sugary-sweet children's song about smiling. All internal text messages were having their destination codes randomized. Every battlefield communicator that could be scrounged was being used to jury-rig a bare-bones replacement voice-and-data network, but at present, messages were being relayed person-to-person.
"Flight Operations?"
"Droid malfunctions have caused over eighty percent of our fighter complement to be placed in varying states of maintenance standby," reported a visibly shaken Starfighter Command General. "At present, we can muster roughly two full wings of operational fighters, including reconnaissance and surface attack variants. Assault and utility transports do not appear to have been affected. We are attempting large-scale memory purges on the maintenance droids, but for some reason, they return to aberrant behavior patterns within an hour." He glared at the fidgeting colonel in charge of the computer network.
"My Lord, I regret to inform you that the entire computer network has been thoroughly compromised with several viral programs. The only sure-fire solution that we have available is a complete shut-down and restart from secured backups made at least five days ago. As you may recall, that procedure took eight hours during the station's initial startup. I believe we can reduce that time to six hours," was the report as he cast several nervous glances at the brooding Sith Lord standing motionless behind Tarkin.
"Six hours during which we are effectively helpless," growled Propulsion.
"As opposed to our current situation?" shot back Flight Ops.
"Gentlemen," interrupted Tarkin. "Thank you for your reports. Continue to pursue what remedies you can without further compromising our defences." He turned to the networking officer. "How long will you need to prepare for the cold restart?"
"At least one hour. Two would be preferable, my lord."
Tarkin's pinched face grew even more sour. "Have your staff begin preliminiary preperations. I will notify you if you are to proceed. Dismissed."
As the officers quickly filed out of the office, the Grand Moff turned to Vader with a scowl. "Tagge is going to have a field day with this! He's already volunteered to take a shuttle to the sector base at Yaga Minor to 'summon reinforcements to defend the station during our temporary difficulties'. What's worse, he's probably right; it's the prudent move. How did those Rebel scum manage to infiltrate our computers so thoroughly?"
Vader declined to comment.
"Yes. Best for you to remain silent. After all, your judgement regarding your old master was perhaps slightly optimistic. Fortunately for you, neither of us benefits from denouncing each other to the Emperor. Or would you prefer to replace Tagge on that shuttle trip to Yaga Minor?"
"I shall remain here. Something in the Force tells me that I shall meet Kenobi again very soon."
"For your sake, I hope you will be better prepared for him this time." The governor went to the office door and called to his secretary. "Send word to General Tagge that he will be departing for Yaga Minor as soon as the flight deck can certify a shuttle for flight." He returned to his desk and looked at a datapad containing a set of estimates. "Eight hours to Yaga Minor...Six more hours to organize a relief force...We will be alone here for about thirty-six hours before the fleet can arrive. Do you concur?"
Vader nodded. Heavy fleet elements such as Star Destroyers had slower hyperdrive units than the relatively speedy personnel shuttles. "Do you believe the engineers and techs require additional motivation?"
Tarkin considered the question. Judging by the senior officers, frustration, embarrassment, and professional pride were probably enough to ensure top performance, but the Sith Lord needed to re-establish his reputation among the crew as well. "No more than five examples, and make sure that they are truly incompetent and not just unlucky."
"...It took some doin', but Cookie and me worked out a way to re-infect the service droids every time they interface with the network when they need to request supply locations and so on. We also set it up so that those tens of thousands of mouse droids all had dormant versions the programs for re-introduction to the system. I kin put the parameters of the viruses on a datacard fer ya to give Artoo next time around, Luke," offered Apple Bloom.
The jedi master was impressed and not a little disconcerted.
They had gathered in a small conference room in the Yavin IV headquarters complex. Luke and Twilight had relinquished Scootaloo's astromech to the rebel technicians to provide the Death Star plans Apple Bloom had transferred to it earlier.
"General Dodonna says that they can pull together about ten squadrons of fighters, six corvettes, two Nebulon-Bs, and a Neutron Star bulk cruiser in the time-frame we have for the attack," reported Cadance.
"That's 3 squadrons of X-Wings, 2 of upgraded Z-95s, and the rest are Y-wings," added Wedge Antilles. "Not including what we here can provide." The looping Corellian ace pilot had met the group as they disembarked from the Falcon and seemed to be taking the substitutions in stride. "I've got my XJ-7, and I know Luke has both an XJ-6 and a Stealth-X tucked away in his pocket."
"Twilight's got my T-65C, but it's been modified for pony anatomy," said Scootaloo. "Maybe Pansy can fly it, since I'm staying in the Falcon."
"To be honest, I think I'll be of more use in the frigates or cruiser coordinating things with Battle Meditation," said Luke.
"Not one of the skills I've picked up. If anyone's going to use it, it has to be you," agreed Spike. "Since I was never that hot a pilot in any loop. I'm probably best suited to backing up Twilight in her shuttle."
"Me too," added Sweetie. "At least I know how to operate Starfleet equipment, so I can help to fly the thing if Twilight's busy with something else."
"So it looks like me on the flagship; Wedge, the Falcon, and maybe Pansy as a floating response force; and Twilight, Spike and Sweets in the shuttle. Any preferences, Apple Bloom? Cadance?" inquired Luke.
"I'll point out that the shuttle will be a tad crowded with three people and the extra equipment," interjected Twilight.
"Well, I could spend the battle on the flagship looking concerned, or I could probably make myself useful on the Falcon," said Cadance.
"I'm kinda torn. I'd like to help babysit the non-standard gear on the shuttle, but as Twilight said, it's already gettin' crowded. I guess I'll be Pansy's astromech if she's amenable," decided the yellow droid.
"That reminds me. We need to make sure your additions behave as expected, Apple Bloom. Do you have a free hour to go to low orbit?" asked Twilight.
"No, my lord. Your fighter is fully functional so far as we can tell," said the nervous flight deck officer.
"Then explain why it isn't being prepared for flight as I ordered," said Vader with deceptive calm.
"It's a...cosmetic...issue, my lord."
"Cosmetic."
"There have been...irregularities...in the application of surface coloration."
"The droids repainted it, you mean."
"Yes, my lord."
"Dare I ask the extent of the irregularities?"
The deck officer, taking a moment to make sure they were relatively isolated, pulled a small holorecorder from a pocket and selected an image.
Instead of the standard Imperial gray and black, the fighter had a – very non-regulation – base coat of deep blue, on which a half-sunburst in white occupied the forward end of the fuselage. A red Galactic Republic insignia was eblazoned toward the back end of each solar panel.
It was as if the paint job of his Clone Wars customized Aethersprite interceptor – The one he had privately named the "Azure Angel" in honour of Padme – had been transferred to the TIE advanced prototype.
And it actually looks pretty good, he admitted in the quiet back of his mind that had been dormant for most of the past nineteen years. The part that had stirred to life when Kenobi – his one-time best friend – had addressed him as "Anakin".
I'm not sure where the paint came from, either...
"I hope you understand that it would take a team of five crewers three hours to restore it to regulation, and we just don't have the people to spare right now," hazarded the officer.
Vader nodded absently. "Get more of the blue paint and have those insignia covered. Also run as thorough a pre-flight as you can. I will be taking it out in thirty minutes."
Ignoring the stammering response of the deck officer, Vader strode toward the pilot's ready room. Meditation had not silenced the inner voice the lizard had roused. Maybe time in the cockpit was what he needed.
The Rebel attack force made their coordinated hyperspace jump to Bertie on schedule. Luke and Twilight had estimated that their attack would start three or so hours before significant Imperial fleet reinforcements could arrive.
Cadance glanced around the cruiser's command deck as the hundred or so fighters and handful of larger ships organized themselves. Despite her earlier decision to join the Falcon's crew, Luke had convinced her that she would be invaluable as a buffer between himself, the Loopers in their self-named Special Mission Force, and the rest of the Rebel command group.
"Green leader reports contact with Imperial reconnaissance unit," announced a comm tech. "Single TIE got a quick look at the fighter screen and is now running for the outer gas giant. Can't tell if it picked up the main force."
"Well, they know someone's here now," said Cadance. "Transmit the ultimatum?"
Dodonna nodded. "Whenever you're ready, princess."
Tarkin's aide entered the office and came to attention before extending a datapad.
"Sir, a large rebel fighter force, backed up by an uncertain number of larger ships emerged form hyperspace approximately ten minutes ago. Five minutes ago, they broadcast an ultimatum. The text of the message, along with our latest force estimates is here."
Tarkin accepted the pad and read:
"This is senator Cadance Organa of Alderaan.
"In the name of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, we demand the immediate surrender of all Imperial armed forces. We further stipulate that Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Lord Darth Vader be placed under arrest to face trial for Genocide against the planet of Alderaan and numerous additional Crimes Against Sapience. Members of the Imperial Military holding flag rank, in addition to a small number of others, will be detained as Prisoners of War, with all the rights and responsibilities pertaining thereto.
"All other personnel will be allowed to depart the system with their personal effects. As regards the battle station, you are encouraged to scuttle the facility if that is your desire, as we presently lack the ability to intern it.
"Failure to accept these terms will result in the destruction of the battle station with the resultant loss of life. You have one hour to respond.
"The list of additional Imperial personnel to be detained follows..."
The Governor skipped to the enemy force estimates. Over eighty fighters and at least five larger ships. Not really a threat to the station, but enough to be a significant irritant until the reinforcements could arrive. Drat the communications difficulties. All I have is my initial estimate. If Tagge runs to schedule, the fleet won't be here for another two hours.
"Summon the senior defense staff to conference room one in five minutes," he ordered.
"Sir, Lord Vader is still flying a patrol circuit. Do you want him recalled as well?" asked the aide.
"Inform him that if he cannot be aboard in fifteen minutes he might as well stay out there."
"So you figure the odds of the Imps actually accepting Cadance's terms to be better or worse than Jabba donating his fortune to the Alderaan Relief Society and retiring to a life of quiet contemplation on Tython?" Scootaloo asked Chewbacca as the Falcon, Wedge's X-Wing, and Twilight's shuttle orbited the Rebel formation.
Twenty minutes had elapsed since the broadcast of the Alliance ultimatum.
Pansy had elected to remain aboard the freighter as a gunner, and had managed to talk a slightly dubious Cookie into assisting her. That left Apple Bloom free to serve in the familiar role of navigator and flight engineer.
{{Somewhat lower than the likelihood of Kamino suffering a prolonged drought would be my guess,}} replied the wookiee. {{Still, the proper forms should be observed.}}
"Heads up," warned Sweetie over their private channel. "Sensors are picking up one incoming at high speed. Profile matches a TIE Advanced prototype. Contact estimated in four minutes. Spike's pretty sure it's Vader coming for a quick look-see. Twilight wants to pull her vanishing act before he can get a good scan, and we might as well see if we can take him off the board now."
"Right. Bloom, let Cadance know. Wedge, we'll run interference as planned," said the violet-haired pilot.
"Copy that," was the Corellian's crisp reply as the two ships swung onto an intercept course. Behind them, the shuttle faded from view.
Twilight had been relieved to confirm that the cloaking device Apple Bloom had stored from an earlier Trek loop was behaving as designed and not as cloaking shields native to this loop would. She could work around the two-way invisibility that the local cloaking devices employed, but it was much simpler to just look out at the universe without resorting to more exotic detection methods.
Through the Force, she could sense Spike's efforts at reducing their own presence as a lessening of the link she felt with the rest of the Rebels that had started when Luke began his Battle Meditation shortly after Cadance had transmitted her message.
Fortuitously, this encounter would take place outside of easy sensor range of both sides; neither would have a good idea of exactly what happened.
The shuttle was making a gradual diving turn that would, if Scootaloo and Wedge followed their planned manoeuvres, bring it below and behind Vader's fighter on a roughly parallel course. Twilight observed the tactical display being fed by the passive sensors. The Falcon, with Wedge flying high cover, was on a direct intercept course with Vader. There was a brief exchange of fire, Vader's striking the freighter's full-strength shields, Pansy's set to barely miss and force an evasive turn just so...
"Phaser modulation confirmed. Tractor beam standing by," reported Sweetie quietly.
Twilight adjusted her course slightly and switched to the weapons control panel. "Dropping cloak. Locking phasers."
The shuttle wavered back into view, and twin orange beams speared out from the upper fuselage. The beams flared against the prototype's shields for a fraction of a second before punching through to strike the aft hull, creating a cascade of ionization sparks.
"Looks like his power systems have been disrupted. Applying tractor beam," said Sweetie.
"Scanning for a transporter lock," added Spike from the aft compartment. "Got him!"
"Energize," Twilight ordered.
"Twilight reports that they have Vader on ice," announced Apple Bloom's voice over Cadance's headset as the fleet's operations officer declared that there was no further activity from the Imperials.
"It's kind of ambiguous. They've got a bit less than forty minutes before time runs out, and aside from that solo run by that prototype fighter your friends went out to handle, they're playing their sabaac cards close to the vest," commented Dodonna. "They've pulled back to a minimal recon shell of fighters. Looks like General Kenobi called it correctly. They're certain we can't scratch them, and they lack the fighter strength to overwhelm us, so they're hunkering down in the hope we decide to come to them anyway, or until they get reinforced."
"How are the crews holding up?" asked Cadance.
"Better than I would have expected under the circumstances. I guess young Skywalker's meditation is helping them to stay focused." The general stretched. "I'm trying to remind myself that the waiting will have an impact on their morale as well."
Cadance made a show of concentrating on her headset. "General Kenobi is requesting landing clearance for his shuttle and wants to know if the holding cell has been prepared as discussed earlier. Captain Solo and Flight Officer Antillies will remain on perimeter patrol."
"I'm sure I don't want to know how they managed to take a prisoner, but the cell and comm gear are ready," said the general.
"No response at all from Lord Vader," reported Tarkin's aide as the Grand Moff entered the primary communications center.
This was unsettling. Fifteen minutes earlier, the Sith Lord had declared his intention to perform a distant fly-by of the rebel formation. There had been nothing since.
Tarkin addressed his fighter group commander. "You are confident that you have sufficient strength for this reconnaissance in force?"
"Yes, my lord. The techs have made commendable progress restoring our fighter strength. Fifteen squadrons should be more than enough to deal with the Rebel screen."
"Then by all means, let us give the Princess our response to her ultimatum."
(namar13766)
Entry 38:
After that last loop, I wish I could say I had a nice relaxing loop. And for the most part, I'd be correct.
I woke up as a PONY! SQUEE! Why did I just write out my thoughts? After being happy for a while, I met this human named Keiichi Morisato. He's not the local Anchor per se, but the boyfriend of one of the people trying to fix the loops. Belldandy is very nice, and she honestly cares about me in a way I wish I could thank Celestia for. Just...How do I repay her kindness? Can I even do it? I don't think I could do it for her, let alone Twilight. But then Keiichi told me something he heard from a Warhammer Looper. "It is not the descent toward the shadow nor the rise toward the light that makes us superior. It is the endless struggle between the two that greatness of character lies."
I guess that's all I can do. Really.
Keychain: Full Story
Entry 39: Well. That happened.
I Woke up human. Again.
I was not thrilled, to say the least, when my memories hit me. I suppose I could deal with being a soldier. I suppose having super-strength and speed is okay. But being psychic like that? I'm not so sure I could deal with the nightmares I would have.
Thank goodness for the local Anchor. Everything I accused Princess Celestia of doing to me? I wish I could go back to my younger self and smack her seeing what happened to my mother. Yes, that's right. Mother. In this loop, guest loopers usually are the Children of the anchor, and end up waking up just we set her free. But I have to admit, for someone who even refers to herself as the "Mother of the Apocalypse," she can be very caring.
She even recognized me as an Equestrian looper, and used her powers to turn us both into ponies so that we could enjoy our time together. I guess things have to end sometime, so right now I'm writing this under the wings of a sleeping Alma Wade Soul Swimmer.
Keychain: Falling Brightly